New Living Translation NLT
Common English Bible CEB
1 Here is a list of the family leaders and the genealogies of those who came with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes:
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These are the heads of the families, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me during the rule of King Artaxerxes:
2 From the family of Phinehas: Gershom. From the family of Ithamar: Daniel. From the family of David: Hattush,
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of the family of Phinehas, Gershom; of Ithamar, Daniel; of David, Hattush,
3 a descendant of Shecaniah. From the family of Parosh: Zechariah and 150 other men were registered.
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Shecaniah's son; of Parosh, Zechariah and with him were registered 150 men;
4 From the family of Pahath-moab: Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah and 200 other men.
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of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai, Zerahiah's son and with him 200 men;
5 From the family of Zattu : Shecaniah son of Jahaziel and 300 other men.
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of Zattu, Shecaniah, Jahaziel's son and with him 300 men;
6 From the family of Adin: Ebed son of Jonathan and 50 other men.
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of Adin, Ebed, Jonathan's son and with him 50 men;
7 From the family of Elam: Jeshaiah son of Athaliah and 70 other men.
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of Elam, Jeshaiah, Athaliah's son and with him 70 men;
8 From the family of Shephatiah: Zebadiah son of Michael and 80 other men.
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of Shephatiah, Zebadiah, Michael's son and with him 80 men;
9 From the family of Joab: Obadiah son of Jehiel and 218 other men.
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of Joab, Obadiah, Jehiel's son and with him 218 men;
10 From the family of Bani : Shelomith son of Josiphiah and 160 other men.
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of Bani, Shelomith, Josiphiah's son and with him 160 men;
11 From the family of Bebai: Zechariah son of Bebai and 28 other men.
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of Bebai, Zechariah, Bebai's son and with him 28 men;
12 From the family of Azgad: Johanan son of Hakkatan and 110 other men.
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of Azgad, Johanan, Hakkatan's son and with him 110 men;
13 From the family of Adonikam, who came later : Eliphelet, Jeuel, Shemaiah, and 60 other men.
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of the last of Adonikam, namely Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah and with them 60 men;
14 From the family of Bigvai: Uthai, Zaccur, and 70 other men.
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of Bigvai, Uthai and Zaccur and with them were 70 men.
15 I assembled the exiles at the Ahava Canal, and we camped there for three days while I went over the lists of the people and the priests who had arrived. I found that not one Levite had volunteered to come along.
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I gathered them by the river that runs to Ahava, and there we camped for three days. As I reviewed the people and the priests, I found no Levites there.
16 So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders of the people. I also sent for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of discernment.
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So I called for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, all leaders, together with Joiarib and Elnathan, who were wise.
17 I sent them to Iddo, the leader of the Levites at Casiphia, to ask him and his relatives and the Temple servants to send us ministers for the Temple of God at Jerusalem.
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I sent them to Iddo, the leader at the place named Casiphia, telling them what to say to Iddo and his colleagues the temple servants at Casiphia, namely, to send us ministers for God's house.
18 Since the gracious hand of our God was on us, they sent us a man named Sherebiah, along with eighteen of his sons and brothers. He was a very astute man and a descendant of Mahli, who was a descendant of Levi son of Israel.
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Because we were favored by God, they brought us Sherebiah, a skillful man of the family of Mahli, Levi's son and Israel's grandson, together with his sons and relatives so that there were eighteen in total.
19 They also sent Hashabiah, together with Jeshaiah from the descendants of Merari, and twenty of his sons and brothers,
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They also brought us Hashabiah and with him Jeshaiah of the family of Merari, together with his relatives and their sons so that there were twenty in total.
20 and 220 Temple servants. The Temple servants were assistants to the Levites—a group of Temple workers first instituted by King David and his officials. They were all listed by name.
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In addition, there were two hundred twenty temple servants whom David and the princes had appointed to serve the Levites. These were all recorded by name.
21 And there by the Ahava Canal, I gave orders for all of us to fast and humble ourselves before our God. We prayed that he would give us a safe journey and protect us, our children, and our goods as we traveled.
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Then I called for a fast there at the Ahava River so that we might submit before our God and ask of him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our possessions.
22 For I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to accompany us and protect us from enemies along the way. After all, we had told the king, “Our God’s hand of protection is on all who worship him, but his fierce anger rages against those who abandon him.”
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I had been ashamed to ask the king for a group of soldiers and cavalry to help us in facing enemies on the way, because we had told the king, "The power of God favors all who seek him, but his fierce wrath is against all who abandon him."
23 So we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us, and he heard our prayer.
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So we fasted and prayed to our God for this, and he responded to us.
24 I appointed twelve leaders of the priests—Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten other priests—
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Then I selected twelve of the leading priests, Sherebiah and Hashabiah and ten of their relatives with them.
25 to be in charge of transporting the silver, the gold, the gold bowls, and the other items that the king, his council, his officials, and all the people of Israel had presented for the Temple of God.
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I weighed out to them the silver and the gold and the equipment, the offering for the house of our God that the king, his counselors, his officials, and all Israel present there had offered.
26 I weighed the treasure as I gave it to them and found the totals to be as follows: 24 tons of silver, 7,500 pounds of silver articles, 7,500 pounds of gold,
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I weighed out into their keeping six hundred fifty kikkars of silver, one hundred silver containers weighing a certain number of kikkars, one hundred kikkars of gold,
27 20 gold bowls, equal in value to 1,000 gold coins, 2 fine articles of polished bronze, as precious as gold.
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twenty gold bowls worth one thousand darics, and two containers of highly polished copper, which were as precious as gold.
28 And I said to these priests, “You and these treasures have been set apart as holy to the LORD . This silver and gold is a voluntary offering to the LORD, the God of our ancestors.
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I said to them, "You are holy to the LORD, and the equipment is holy; the silver and the gold are a spontaneous gift to the LORD, the God of your ancestors.
29 Guard these treasures well until you present them to the leading priests, the Levites, and the leaders of Israel, who will weigh them at the storerooms of the LORD ’s Temple in Jerusalem.”
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Guard them carefully until you weigh them out in Jerusalem before the officials of the priests, the Levites, and the heads of the families of Israel, within the rooms of the LORD's house."
30 So the priests and the Levites accepted the task of transporting these treasures of silver and gold to the Temple of our God in Jerusalem.
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So the priests and the Levites received the silver and the gold and the utensils as they were weighed out, in order to bring them to Jerusalem, to our God's house.
31 We broke camp at the Ahava Canal on April 19 and started off to Jerusalem. And the gracious hand of our God protected us and saved us from enemies and bandits along the way.
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Then we left the Ahava River on the twelfth day of the first month to go to Jerusalem. The power of our God was with us; he saved us from the power of the enemy and ambushes along the way.
32 So we arrived safely in Jerusalem, where we rested for three days.
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After arriving in Jerusalem, we rested there three days.
33 On the fourth day after our arrival, the silver, gold, and other valuables were weighed at the Temple of our God and entrusted to Meremoth son of Uriah the priest and to Eleazar son of Phinehas, along with Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui—both of whom were Levites.
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On the fourth day, the silver and the gold and the equipment were weighed out in our God's house into the care of the priest named Meremoth, Uriah's son, together with Eleazar, Phinehas' son; and the Levites, Jozabad, Jeshua's son, and Noadiah, Binnui's son.
34 Everything was accounted for by number and weight, and the total weight was officially recorded.
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Everything was counted and weighed, and the total weight was recorded.
35 Then the exiles who had come out of captivity sacrificed burnt offerings to the God of Israel. They presented twelve bulls for all the people of Israel, as well as ninety-six rams and seventy-seven male lambs. They also offered twelve male goats as a sin offering. All this was given as a burnt offering to the LORD .
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At that time, those who had come from the captivity, the returned exiles, offered as entirely burned offerings to the God of Israel twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve male goats as a purification offering. All this was an entirely burned offering to the LORD.
36 The king’s decrees were delivered to his highest officers and the governors of the province west of the Euphrates River, who then cooperated by supporting the people and the Temple of God.
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They also delivered the king's orders to the royal chief administrators and governors of the province Beyond the River, who supported the people and God's house.
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Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible